The former activity center of Luguang No. 3 Village in Guishan has been transformed into a storytelling museum

▲ The Veterans' Village Story Museum retains the appearance of the original community hall.

Intern Reporter Xu Jiaqi / Reported and photographed in Taoyuan

Located in an unassuming small building in Guishan, Taoyuan, the site was formerly the activity center of the military dependents’ village “Luguang No. 3 Village.” Thanks to the efforts of the Tao Zi Yuan Cultural Association, it is now dedicated to preserving cultural relics from Taiwan’s military villages of the 1950s and has been transformed into the current Veterans' Village Story Museum. Through its red doors, green windows, vintage televisions, and belongings of the KMT soldiers who once lived there, it narrates the stories of bygone days.

The two-story gray building features a mudstone exterior. The first floor mainly displays items that belonged to the KMT soldiers who lived in the military village—some donated by grandparents, others collected by curator Yen Yu-ying—including suitcases, military boots, black-and-white photos, Zhongshan suits, musical instruments, and more. Among the most unique artifacts is a plaque listing the names of every household in Luguang No. 3 Village. A visitor who once lived in the village was moved to nostalgia upon seeing it. The second floor is designed to replicate the look of the original community hall, featuring red doors, green windows, an old television, and a sewing machine, allowing visitors to experience life in those times firsthand.


▲ Items belonging to the KMT soldiers who lived in the military village.

Project Manager Huang Min-jie said the name"Veterans' Village Story Museum"rather than Veterans' Village Museum was chosen because of limited funding during its establishment. The collected artifacts were closely tied to everyday life, and the founders also hoped that elderly visitors could come and share their stories. Hence the name.

Huang Min-jie explained that the 600,000 KMT soldiers who came to Taiwan from China in 1949 initially stayed in schools or temples. Later, to accommodate the large number of soldiers and their families, Soong Mei-ling initiated fundraising to build the military villages. “The name Luguang No. 3 Village was chosen because only honorable Army soldiers could live here,” she said. This activity center was built in 1966, and the government demolished the military village in 1997. Yen Yu-ying, then a student at the Ming Chuan University Guishan campus, realized that every doorplate held the stories of ordinary people from that era, so she campaigned tirelessly to preserve the original Luguang No. 3 Village activity center.

In addition, the Veterans' Village Story Museum collaborates with artists, local residents, and cultural historians to host events such as DIY scallion pancake workshops, indigenous sewing lessons taught by tribal instructors, and flea markets where visitors can become “shopkeepers for a day.”

▲ Plaque listing the names of households in Luguang No. 3 Village.


▲ Entrance to the Veterans' Village Story Museum.

  [Veterans' Village Story Museum]

Address: No. 43, Guangfeng Road, Guishan Township, Taoyuan County
Phone: 03-3595692
Business Hours: 10:00–17:00, Closed on Mondays
Admission: NT$30


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